Today, columnist James Gill of the Times-Picayune again addressed the snowballing hospital controversies. This time, he addresses the intervention filed on behalf of the uninsured of New Orleans in LSU's appeal of FEMA's damage reimbursement offer for Charity Hospital. He profiles the sworn testimony of two eyewitnesses who were at Charity Hospital in the fall of 2005 and who believe LSU grossly exaggerated the damage to the building in order to squeeze FEMA for extra money for their proposed $1.2 billion boondoggle in Lower Mid-City.

It's a devastating column for LSU and indicative of the larger turning tide in this debate.

In support of the proposition that that is indeed what is going on, the coalition cites two men who were in the thick of things throughout -- an emergency room doctor and an army staff sergeant. Each has averred, under oath, that Charity was sufficiently restored a month after the storm to resume treating patients, but LSU wanted it closed.

 

The recollections of Dr. James Moises and Sgt. John Johnson do not chime with LSU's. According to the LSU appeal, the Charity basement "was totally inundated by contaminated and corrosive floodwaters for more than 40 days, " and "all utility infrastructure" was out of commission "not for a few days or weeks, but for months." A long list of other woes included "catastrophic environmental failures within the building."

Not so, according to both Moises and Johnson, who say the basement was promptly pumped out, while decontamination teams fanned out on the higher floors.

Moises, in a deposition, said, "The cleanup was essentially complete by September 21. I observed at the time that the first three floors were spotless. Electric power had been restored and the air conditioning was functioning. I personally took pictures at some point in late September 2005 showing the immaculate state of Charity Hospital."

Johnson, a 20-year army veteran, is an electrical specialist in the 205th Engineering battalion, who has done three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Johnson, in an affidavit, described how he quickly restored power to the hospital and noted that "the chemical teams were meticulous." Johnson could "attest from personal knowledge that the emergency room was cleaner than it was before Katrina."

The testimony of two men -- even such apparently credible men as these -- hardly settles the issue, and maybe FEMA will decide LSU is entitled to hit the jackpot. But LSU's only response to the allegations has been a legal quibble. It argues in a brief that the coalition has no standing to intervene and should simply be ignored.

LSU sure is a slow learner. Critics have complained that it has been secretive, high-handed and disingenuous throughout the Charity debate.

Those critics now have more ammunition. LSU appears not to care whether it is trusted or not. "Give us $1.2 billion and go boil your head" is its message to the taxpayer.

The whole column can be found here.